The DOJ’s War on the Secret Service?

By: Joel E. Gordon

How often has the left hand of governmental agencies been out of sync with the right hand on critical decisions and policy on federal, state and local levels?

Ever since learning of the August 2022 raid at Mar-a-Lago I have questioned the Secret Service protective details role in protection of President Trump, his family, and the contents in his residence. Did The FBI/DOJ question the ability of the Secret Service to protect the residence, its occupants and contents? It turns out my curiosity was just the beginning of thought which apparently was even worse than I could have anticipated. An apparent example of left hand/right hand discord.

The mission of any Secret Service executive protection detail is outlined online @ www.secretservice.gov/protection/leaders...

Protecting Leaders:
Since our protective mission began in 1901, our protective work has expanded to not only include traditional physical protection, but also protection against threats from airspace, cyber systems and chemical and biological weapons. Permanent protectees, such as the president and vice president, have special agents permanently assigned to them. Protection for the President and Vice President of the United States is mandatory… The protection of an individual is comprehensive and goes well beyond surrounding the individual with well-armed agents. As part of our mission of preventing an incident before it occurs, we rely on meticulous advance work and threat assessments to identify potential risks to protectees. 

The United States Secret Service is not part of the Department of Justice. This law enforcement agency falls under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security. Before the creation of Homeland Security in 2003, the Secret Service was part of the Department of the Treasury.

The August 2022 raid was part of the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into Trump's alleged handling of classified records. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged improper retention of classified records included an "Operations Order" that was produced during discovery.

This order revealed that the "FBI believed its objective for the Mar-a-Lago raid was to seize "classified information, NDI, and US Government records," as described in the search warrant.
The order also contained, according to a court filing, a "Policy Statement" regarding "Use of Deadly Force," which stated, "Law Enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary."

So was the FBI prepared to engage in a gun battle with Secret Service agents assigned to protect the life of President Trump and his family? What coordination, if any, was planned in advance to avert such a conflict? Was the Secret Service willing to walk away from its obligation to protect a mandatory protectee?

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, spoke about authorization of deadly force on his podcast, believing that the FBI was anticipating potential conflicts with the Secret Service. Cruz actually read through the unsealed document on his podcast, which made clear the FBI being prepared to engage with deadly force, should agents encounter resistance.

"So, they’re anticipating Secret Service may actively resist the FBI, and they’re prepared to engage," Cruz said. "And they’re prepared to engage with an order that explicitly authorizes deadly force. Like, what in the hell?"

Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general and also expressed outrage over the FBI’s authorization to use deadly force during the Mar-a-Lago raid.

"How upsetting is that, especially to all the great men and women in the Secret Service who were in Mar-a-Lago," she said. "It was a safe place. I’ve been part of executing multiple search warrants, and nothing about this was standard. It was a siege by land, by sea, by air, of Mar-a-Lago. "Nothing about this was normal, yet, we’ve heard now that they even had medics and EMS there, in case there could have been a shootout. Can you believe that," Bondi added. "No. Nothing about this was standard. What you do is you coordinate with other federal agencies before you go in there."

Federal agencies once served as an example of mission integrity and competence to all of law enforcement. Are those days now long gone? American’s need to have faith restored in government and law enforcement must not allow itself to be used as pawns in lawfare or political gamesmanship. Leadership must always act in the best interest of the population served.

Joel E. Gordon, Managing Editor of BLUE Magazine, is a former Field Training Officer with the Baltimore City Police Department and is a past Chief of Police for the city of Kingwood, West Virginia. He has also served as vice-chair of a multi-jurisdictional regional narcotics task force. An award winning journalist, he is author of the book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer's Story and founded the Facebook group Police Authors Seeking Justice. Look him up at stillseekingjustice.com